Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Ever Wonder What Happened To Bobby Ginn?

Here is a little press release from our friends at the Golf Channel that may suggest some Tuesday night TV viewing for those NASCAR folks victimized by this man:

Bobby Ginn was a real estate mogul who developed numerous resorts and communities during the real estate boom in the 1990's. His Ginn communities were marketed as the ultimate in upscale golf luxury, and Ginn parlayed his sponsorship of professional golf tournaments - including the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach, the Ginn Open at Reunion and the Ginn sur Mer Classic at the Conservatory - to lure investors. Now, with unfinished clubhouses and neighborhoods in foreclosure, he is thought to be hiding out in the Bahamas. A whistle blower will sit down with GOLF CHANNEL’s Rich Lerner to discuss the real estate bust and what it means to the world of golf.

The title of this TV series is Golf in Americe and it will air Tuesday night at 10PM ET for thirty minutes. Ginn's victims are scattered all over the world and come from all walks of life. Ginn's foray into NASCAR was a disaster that left many people unemployed and hard feelings scattered throughout the racing world.

TV host Rick Lerner should offer some interesting conversation on just how this implosion happened and what Ginn's fate may be once authorities catch-up with the one time real estate mogul.

The Ginn "ownership" listing on the #33 is for legal purposes only. When DEI and CGR-FS merged, they had to legally shed teams. When the teams were shed, the #01 was shed to RCR, which became the #33, for purposes of NASCAR's All-Exempt Tour. In order to give the #33 exempt status for the first five races of 2009, Ginn was listed as the owner of record from 2008's DEI consortium in order to allow Childress to have the #33 exempt.

This is only a legal transfer in regards to the exempt tour rules in the sport.

Ginn also ruined South Carolina's attempt to get more tourism back in the state after the NAACP Boycott and the Ferko lawsuit when women's golf decided not to renew the Charleston-area tournament that he had organised in his hometown.

This is yet another example of the increasingly sloppy state of reporting about the world of NASCAR. All I know about Ginn is what I have read in the news, virtually none of which came from the so-called NASCAR media. Ginn had a very big development up in the NC mountains in the general vicinity of Boone - no more than 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Charlotte - which is in some sort of foreclosure, and about which I've seen nothing in the NASCAR media. In light of the big splash he made in NASCAR, I would think his fall would be in the NASCAR news - but this seems to be yet another "new" type of happening that is too much trouble for the NASCAR media (TV or print) to try to learn about and report on.

I admire you as a NASCAR blogger and I usually agree with most of what you write about.

I honestly don't know where to start with you on this subject.

So we will start with Ginn Racing:Anyone that knows what really happened behind the scenes know this one fact. Bobby's fault was putting too much trust in other people. When Bobby came on board to rescue the financially drowning MB2 Motorsports, he was left with a partner who made false promises of sponsorships that never came to fruition. With those empty promises also came excessive spending by so called partner. Why else would you purchase a seven shaker rig in the first year as a race team unless you put the trust and faith in your "very seasoned partner" who assured success with this purchase. You can only put your own name on a race car for so long as a way to SAVE Ginn Racing Employees while waiting for promised sponsor dollars that never showed up. When you don't have sponsors, you can't run your cars. It's NASCAR 101 people and this my friends how you kill a race team in less than 2 years. Listening to bad advice.

Don't bring up the blimp...that was purchased without Bobby's knowledge by the Sports and Entertainment group on the resort side...I was there when he saw it for the first time and everyone was a bit shocked.

Please let me assure you, Ginn is not in hiding nor is he a criminal. He is still working out of his office and I can give you the address if you want it. The man has nothing to be ashamed of. Nor is he anything like Maddof, that was an ignorant comment.

Onto Ginn Golf Tournaments:

First, Ginn did not lure in his investors with his golf tournaments. The first Ginn golf tournament took place in April 2006. The Ginn Development company had their first multi million dollar real estate launch in December 2000. This was many years prior to the birth of Ginn Sports Entertainment (which housed Ginn golf tournaments and assisted with Ginn Racings marketing efforts).

So, please tell me what you all think about the demise of all the other race teams from today's economy? Most had to get partners, merge and leave the sport.

Sorry for being wordy, you just rubbed me the wrong way when you made the comment about the authorities catching up with Bobby, who is one of the most down to earth, genuine, true, real and honest men I have ever met.

The comments by "know the facts" writer are completely accurate. It's a shame Bobby Ginn has to take the fall for the irresponsible actions of others. I live in a Ginn community and I am very pleased with the promises and delivery this man has made to his real estate owners. The bust in the market was NOT his fault. Does anyone really think that a successful developer would want to see the market go soft???? The truth behind the issues surrounding his real estate communites is the property owners themselves not paying their club dues, HOA dues, etc. I have sooo many neighbors who aren't living up their obligations, therefore they are the ones ruining the community.

Thus why people that are successful in other fields need to stop assuming they will be in NASCAR. Perhaps Bobby Ginn was too trusting and it is on the shoulders of Nelson Bowers and Jay Frye asto why the MB2/Ginn relationship failed, but it does not excuse Bobby Ginn for not doing his homework. A good business person surrounds themselves with people who know what they are doing but at the same time has at least a slight understanding of such so that there is a check and balance system in place. They paid Mark Martin a HUGE amount of money, the team was a victim of sponsor lying and getting cold feet at the last minute, they were a victim of expanding too much too fast, but they were also a victim of excessive spending. Bobby Ginn still owes several people in the sport a ton of money whether it was his fault directly or not. He put his name and reputation on the line and thus damaged it as a result by cutting line and running tail between his legs less than 8 months into his first season.

Sorry, I cant feel bad or have sympathetic feelings for someone who left the sport under a cloak of invisibility like he did.

Maybe its all the people he surrounded himself with's fault but at the same time, HE did surround himself with these people and your thought of by the company you keep...

Jay Frye hasn't seemed to have a problem since going to Red Bull... MB2 survived near a decade before Ginn got there... Can't help but figure the blame falls with Ginn.